WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is apologizing for inappropriately flagging conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews.

Lerner said the practice, initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati, was wrong and she apologized while speaking at a conference in Washington.

Many conservative groups complained during the election that they were being harassed by the IRS. They said the agency asked them an inordinate number of questions to justify their tax-exempt status.

Certain tax-exempt charitable groups can conduct political activities but it cannot be their primary activity.

The Internal Revenue Service admitted Friday to targeting conservative and Tea Party groups with additional scrutiny during the 2012 campaign, the Associated Press first reported.

IRS spokesperson Lois Lerner said at a conference in Washington that the agency apologized for the special emphasis and scrutiny in applications for tax-exempt status.

According to the AP, she said that organizations containing the words "Tea Party" or "patriot" were targeted for additional review, blaming that on "low-level" workers in Ohio.

Here is the full statement the IRS released later:

Between 2010 and 2012, the IRS saw the number of applications for section 501(c)(4) status double. As a result, local career employees in Cincinnati sought to centralize work and assign cases to designated employees in an effort to promote consistency and quality. This approach has worked in other areas. However, the IRS recognizes we should have done a better job of handling the influx of advocacy applications.

While centralizing cases for consistency made sense, the way we initially centralized them did not. Mistakes were made initially, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale. We fixed the situation last year and have made significant progress in moving the centralized cases through our system. To date, more than half of the cases have been approved or withdrawn.

It is important to recognize that all centralized applications received the same, even-handed treatment, and the majority of cases centralized were not based on a specific name. In addition, new procedures also were implemented last year to ensure that these mistakes won’t be made in the future. The IRS also stresses that our employees - all career civil servants -- will continue to be guided by tax law and not partisan issues.

In a conference call later Friday with reporters, the IRS reiterated that it was not engaging in any political attacks by targeting groups with "Tea Party" and "patriot." But it couldn't point to other non-conservative or political-sounding words.

"Now more than ever we need to send a clear message to the Obama administration that the First Amendment is non-negotiable, and that apologies after an election year are not an sufficient response to what we now know took place at the IRS. This kind of political thuggery has absolutely no place in our politics," McConnell said in a statement.

At one point last year, 16 tea party groups joined together in claiming harassment by the IRS, something the agency denied at the time. The IRS said that roughly 75 groups were targeted.

One of those groups, the Tea Party Patriots, called on President Barack Obama to apologize and demanded that Congress investigate.

“The IRS has demonstrated the most disturbing, illegal and outrageous abuse of government power,” said Jenny Beth Martin, the group's national coordinator.

“This deliberate targeting and harassment of tea party groups reaches a new low in illegal government activity and overreach. It is suspicious that the activity of these ‘low-level workers’ was unknown to IRS leadership at the time it occurred. ... We reject a simple apology that does nothing to alleviate the danger of this happening again. Only immediate and public actions on the part of the IRS and the president will suffice.

Certain tax-exempt charitable groups can conduct political activities, but it cannot be their primary activity.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress in March 2012 that the IRS was not targeting groups based on their political views.

"There's absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people" who apply for tax-exempt status, Shulman told a House Ways and Means subcommittee.

Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush. His 6-year term ended in November. President Barack Obama has yet to nominate a successor. The agency is now being run by acting Commissioner Steven Miller.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress in March 2012 that the IRS was not targeting groups based on their political views.

"There's absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people" who apply for tax-exempt status, Shulman told a House Ways and Means subcommittee.

Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush. His 6-year term ended in November. President Barack Obama has yet to nominate a successor. The agency is now being run by acting Commissioner Steven Miller.

so bush is responsible for increasing taxes on the rich starting in 2013? not Barack Obama?

Back in May 2009, Professor Glenn Reynolds, better known to his followers as Instapundit, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in which he discussed some odd rhetoric from President Obama. Obama had been refused an honorary doctorate by Arizona State University, and Obama remarked, “President [Michael] Crowe and the Board of Regents will soon learn all about being audited by the IRS.” Reynolds pointed out:

Just a joke about the power of the presidency. Made by Jay Leno it might have been funny. But as told by Mr. Obama, the actual president of the United States, it's hard to see the humor. Surely he's aware that other presidents, most notably Richard Nixon, have abused the power of the Internal Revenue Service to harass their political opponents. But that abuse generated a powerful backlash and with good reason. Should the IRS come to be seen as just a bunch of enforcers for whoever is in political power, the result would be an enormous loss of legitimacy for the tax system.

As it turns out, the IRS under President Obama routinely gave special scrutiny for groups with the terms “tea party” or “patriots” in their titles. His little joke doesn’t read much like a joke anymore.

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress in March 2012 that the IRS was not targeting groups based on their political views.

"There's absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people" who apply for tax-exempt status, Shulman told a House Ways and Means subcommittee.

Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush. His 6-year term ended in November. President Barack Obama has yet to nominate a successor. The agency is now being run by acting Commissioner Steven Miller.

He was on his way out. I suppose Bush gave the order to go after conservative groups as well. Haha.

On Friday, the IRS blamed "low-level" employees in its Cincinnati office for targeting tax-exempt organizations that had "Tea Party" or "Patriots" in their names during the 2012 election and apologized for their actions.

Upon a review of the IRS bureaucracy, though, the Cincinnati office is not a random backwater outpost for "low-level" IRS rogues. In fact, the Cincinnati office is where determinations on tax-exempt organizations' eligibility are made and is the only physical office in the complex IRS bureaucracy dedicated to tax-exempt determinations.

On the IRS's website, in the "How to Contact the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division" section, the Cincinnati office is the only one listed for people to contact if they have questions about "Charities & Non-Profits":

To obtain a determination letter that applies the principles and precedents previously announced to a specific set of facts, or to transmit copies of amended documents write or fax to:

He was on his way out. I suppose Bush gave the order to go after conservative groups as well. Haha.

Obama has no involvement and this happened under Douglas Shulman's watch

so you either have to believe the story that it was a few low level employees and that the head of the agency is not responsible for the actions of his employees or you have to blame the head of the agency, who was appointed by Bush

those are the only two choices

If Repubs weren't always acting like a bunch of pussy victims all the time they would realize this was just the action of a couple of employees and the real story is that it's FUCKING AMAZING that the IRS admitted it much less apologized for it

Obama has no involvement and this happened under Douglas Shulman's watch

No, no, no.

Not according to libtards. Anything that occurs during a president's term is his responsibility. Whether he had any involvement or not. This standard was established by the left when they blamed Bush for 9-11. When they blamed Bush for high gas prices. The only exception is the economy because they still blame Bush for it and he is not even in office.

So, lets apply the same standard to the current clown in chief. Thanks.

Not according to libtards. Anything that occurs during a president's term is his responsibility. Whether he had any involvement or not. This standard was established by the left when they blamed Bush for 9-11. When they blamed Bush for high gas prices. The only exception is the economy because they still blame Bush for it and he is not even in office.

So, lets apply the same standard to the current clown in chief. Thanks.

let's apply the same standard

fundy libtards denied Bush was responsible for anything so if we're going to apply the same standard then Obama has no fault in this

back in actual reality we have tons of proof of culpability of Bush Admin for 911 and Iraq, etc.. ( I wouldn't blame Bush for gas prices) but we have zero evidence of any culpability of Obama in this non-story

again, my primary point is this is non-story, except for the amazing fact that the IRS apologized

Repubs are in permanent victimhood and just crave the next story that they can feel bad about

right wing libtards denied Bush was responsible for anything so if we're going to apply the same standard then Obama has no fault in this

back in actual reality we have tons of proof of culpability of Bush Admin for 911 and Iraq, etc.. ( I wouldn't blame Bush for gas prices) but we have zero evidence of any culpability of Obama in this non-story

again, my primary point is this is non-story, except for the amazing fact that the IRS apologized

Repubs are in permanent victimhood and just crave the next story that they can feel bad about

Good.

Now all you have to do is blame Obama and the dumbocrats for the sorry state of the economy, the never ending spending, UE still above 7%, more people than ever on welfare, millions more on ue benefits, millions who have quit looking for a job, highest UE rate among blacks in 20 years, downgrade of UE economy, Gitmo still open, not a single war has ended that wasn't suppose to end according to the schedule set by Bush, the high price of gasoline (even higher than when Bush was president and libtards were crying about it like battered whores), and the fake stock market bubble created by the never ending printing of money by the fed.

Blame Obama because if it was a Republican President, you along with the other leftist morons, would be blaming him for every single thing that I just noted.

Along with targeting tea-party groups, the IRS may also have given extra-special attention to the tax-exempt status of some Jewish groups for political reasons.

From the Jewish Press:

The passionately pro-Israel organization Z STREET filed a lawsuit against the IRS, claiming it had been told by an IRS agent that because the organization was “connected to Israel,” its application for tax-exempt status would receive additional scrutiny. This admission was made in response to a query about the lengthy reveiw of Z STREET’s tax exempt status application.

In addition, the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.” . . .

And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel. Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,” and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”